A.G. Gancarski
Though the concept of climate change has been removed from state law in recent months, Florida’s former Governor is saying he agrees with mainstream scientists on the issue.
“The climate is clearly changing,” U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said on CNN, addressing the destruction left by Hurricane Helene.
“We know things are changing. We’ve got to figure out, how do we react to that?” Scott added, answering host Dana Bash’s inquiries about the subject.
Scott cited storm surge as a compounding problem.
“It seems like what’s happening is the storm surge is getting worse. I mean, we had over 10 foot of storm surge in the Big Bend,” Scott said. “That’s a massive amount of water.”
The Senator wasn’t finished, saying again “who knows what the reason is, but something is changing” to create “massive storm surge.”
Scott has accepted the concept of climate change in recent years, but his conversion was gradual, as those with long memories of his career know.
The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR) notes that in 2015, there were allegations from former state officials that “climate change” and other related terms were banned in the Executive Office of the Governor.
“We were told not to use the terms ‘climate change,’ ‘global warming’ or ‘sustainability,’” said Christopher Byrd, an attorney with the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Office of General Counsel until 2013. “That message was communicated to me and my colleagues by our superiors in the Office of General Counsel.”
Others corroborated Byrd’s claim that “climate change” and “global warming” were forbidden, including staffers in Tallahassee and workers throughout the state.
While Scott’s own staff said there was “no policy” on this in response to reporters’ inquiries at the time, the FCIR report noted that the term had been stripped from environmental reports in favor of phrasings like “climate drivers” and “climate-driven changes.” Other anecdotes reinforced the strong impression that the phrases were rejected by the administration at the time.
“Sea-level rise” eventually became permitted, Reuters notes, though “coastal resiliency” was the preferred euphemism for that for some time.
Other documents, such as one from the DEP, alluded to the concept.
“Both natural and anthropogenic (man-made) processes contribute to changes in global weather patterns such as temperature, rainfall, snowfall and wind,” read the agency’s website during the Scott era.
“These changes have been observed throughout earth’s history, but with the onset of the industrial revolution and the human population explosion, increases in the intensity of climate changes associated with human activities have been reported with growing frequency.”
However, Scott as Governor was coy about the phrase when asked directly, choosing non-answers like “I’m not a scientist” through much of his time in Tallahassee. He paid for that in the 2018 campaign, with Democrats pressing the case that he was a “denier” of climate change with investments in companies opposed to anti-pollution regulations.
Since going to the Senate, Scott has gotten more comfortable with the phrasing itself. He said “climate change is real” in 2019, during a floor speech blasting the so-called Green New Deal. An NPR interview from 2021 found him using the phrase “impacts of climate change” a few times.
But the evolution was years in the making.
18 comments
PeterH
September 27, 2024 at 1:37 pm
It’s refreshing to see Rick Scott finally wake up to the realization most scientists have been pointing out for many decades. There is a shred of hope for this useless political hack.
ScienceBLVR
September 27, 2024 at 3:44 pm
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while….
Scott may not be blind, but he pretends not to see..
A Day without Florida Beaches
September 27, 2024 at 1:53 pm
The seas will rise and the ocean will boil,build ye house not upon the the sands,that the only thing the bible got right,maybe he should of learned these thing living in Florida, Rick Scott just knows it not political palpable for a state that gonna be under water in the future
Michael K
September 27, 2024 at 2:02 pm
Ya think?
I trust science over Rick Scott and his sycophants any day.
A Day without MAGA and Hurricane
September 27, 2024 at 2:08 pm
He will get two chances, before election day to pontificate about Hurricane,it just fortunately it spent most it time at sea ,than over the Florida peninsula,if it would of vivisect Florida with more devastation,why Florida should vote for Harris,she will see that Fema uphold it mandate to Florida, instead of Trump,who offer only paper towels Google Trump Puerto Rico Paper Towels
NotSoFreeFlorida
September 27, 2024 at 3:41 pm
No one can tell me differently. Scott and the GOP manipulated his Sen win with election fraud in vote from the Panhandle after Hurricane Michael. That region had some insanely impossible voter turnout. Bill Nelson won!
Ron Ogden
September 27, 2024 at 3:33 pm
The climate has been changing for at least 10,000 years. Parts of America were covered in glaciers in relatively recent times, geologically speaking. They started melting thousands and thousands of years ago and they still are melting. This is science, and politics has nothing to do with it. For civilization to be equitable, all people will have to have the chance to use energy at the same rate as the West does. To deal with the effects of this warming by building resilient structures and relocating real assets away from vulnerable shores will require massive new amounts of energy.
It aint’ gonna come from windmills and solar panels. Explosive lithium batteries are not the solution. New bureaucracies will not work. Americans will have to make a free choice for workable, affordable solutions, and smug looking people in pants suits jumping on private jets to fly to global conferences do not send the message that will convince the people to make the needed sacrifices .
Orange Juice Powered Cars
September 27, 2024 at 4:36 pm
Then why do Florida not have refinery in their ,they do run cars on Orange Juice, speak of Orange Juice it a good time to buy Orange Juice futures Google Orange Juice Futures Helene
Michael K
September 27, 2024 at 7:46 pm
Germany now gets 60% of its energy from renewable sources. Florida – the Sunshine State – could lead the nation with solar. It’s funny how our governor is all in the pocket$ of big oil – drill, baby, drill – except in Florida. If oil is so clean, he and the missus should move next to a refinery.
Rick Whitaker
September 28, 2024 at 9:33 pm
RON, guys like you could energize the country with your hot air. You are a science denying fool.
The Sage "E"
September 27, 2024 at 3:36 pm
If Rick feels he needs to say that to get re-elected than I, The Sage “E” support his 1st Admendment rights.
The Sage “E”
A Day without MAGA
September 27, 2024 at 6:49 pm
Do not worry Sage, another storm is headed to the Big Bend around 6 of October
Ocean Joe
September 27, 2024 at 4:45 pm
This guy is pitiful.
“Who knows what the reason is, but something is clearly changing.”
Everybody knows except for GOP politicians who put their heads in the sand to protect the fossil fuel industry.
Climate
September 27, 2024 at 7:00 pm
And when he was governor the words climate Change were not allowed to be spoken or used in documents. What a joke. Vote this millionaire out
Frankie M.
September 27, 2024 at 8:38 pm
Climate change is real? Scott can be excommunicated for admitting that. If he were in school he’d already be expelled
LawLib
September 28, 2024 at 10:44 am
Scott and DeSantis are made from the same cloth – it’s called stupid. Now Ricky feels the heat on his tail by Debbie Murcasel Powell, so he starts to waffle. Too late, the dye is cast. Vote him out!
MHDuuuval
September 28, 2024 at 5:00 pm
If Debs should pull off an upset, it will be the average Florida voter who gets credit — not the Big Money machine.
Rina Dentey
October 3, 2024 at 8:28 am
Never trust the politicians, especially the crook ones.
Comments are closed.